Breaking free from the monotonous life, particularly by COVID-19 and its lockdown was one of the major reasons 37-year-old Arjun organised the get-together in Goa, his relatives pouring in at the Risala Bazar house say.
“The occasion is not his daughter’s birthday, and he is not a software professional in Bengaluru, as some media channels are repeatedly saying,” his uncle Anil, an auto-rickshaw driver, said.
Arjun was always active; he is a manager with a Mumbai-based consumer goods company. And he was a frequent traveler also, managing centres outside Hyderabad as demanded by job.
“The idea was to get refreshed before schools re-open, as life gets busy again,” his uncle added, explaining that Arjun alone had booked the 26 to-and-fro tickets on May 21.
The bus, at the time of accident, had 35 occupants, including two drivers, their assistant, and six other general passengers to Hyderabad.
Along with Arjun, the Kalaburagi police confirmed that his wife Saraladevi and his two-year-old son were retrieved dead.
Another family that had joined the journey was that of 35-year-old Shiva Kumar of Ghode ki Khabar. He, his wife Lavanya and nine-year-old daughter Deekshit, all three, reportedly sleeping in the upper berths of the ill-fated bus were stuck in the mangled frame, and were charred to death.
The seventh victim was 40-year-old Anitha.
At the Risala Bazar residence, on the street corner but prominently located opposite the municipal park, mother of Arjun, Ms. Meena in her 60s, was alone as she was a chronic diabetic patient.
Soon after she learnt of the accident, tenants said she collapsed and she was being administered saline. And even at 6 p.m., 12 hours after the accident, she was not given details.
“She had not eaten, or sipped a drink. All that she demands is a phone call with her son Arjun,” the huddled-up relatives, grieving in silence so as to avoid loud sounds, said.
